Monastic tower-naves and tower-nave origins

This chapter traces the origins of the tower-nave form in Anglo-Saxon monasteries, where they occur from at least the early eighth century onwards. It seeks the architectural meanings underlying the tower form, which were drawn from Carolingian and Late Antique practice and related to high-status secular power and burial. Thus, many monastic tower-naves in England were constructed as private, often royal, chapels and burying-places, as a result of the expression of these meanings by their builders. The evidence for monastic tower-naves increases significantly during the mid–late tenth century, a period which coincided with the Monastic Reform, whose leaders were personally responsible for this apparent spate of tower-nave construction. These tower-naves were built in seeming fulfilment of key tenets of the Reform movement: the patronage of the king in monastic life, the regularization of burial practices, and the increased emphasis on the integrity of monastic space.